Who's the Boss
by donnag76
Summary: It's Pepper's first board meeting as CEO and Tony is determined all goes well.


**Who's the Boss**

It was no secret that Tony Stark hated meetings. Pepper had been dragging him to them for the better part of a decade. Today's meeting, however, he'd attended voluntarily. It was the first meeting of the Stark Industries Board of Directors since Pepper had taken over as CEO. For her, he would do anything, including sitting through mind-numbing board meetings. He sat in his chair waiting for the meeting to start, tamping down the urge to start spinning it in circles. Pepper was at the head of the table, looking over her notes for the 100th time. He caught her eye and gave her a wink. She smiled and winked back. He knew that once the meeting started, she would flip that internal switch and be all business. Tony hadn't been just blowing hot air when he'd told Pepper she was the most capable person he knew. That's why he'd never had a second thought about naming her the new CEO.

One by one, the other board members filed in and took their places. If she was nervous, Pepper didn't show it. She gave her papers one final shuffle, took a sip of water and began. "Good morning, gentlemen," she said. "Most of you already know me, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Virginia Potts and I am the new CEO of Stark Industries." With that, she jumped feet-first into the business of running a meeting.

Tony took all the papers, folders, and reports that were handed to him (by Pepper, of course). He already knew what was in them from the hours he'd spent with Pepper helping get it all together. Not that she needed his help in getting the data she needed. She knew as much about S.I. as he did…probably more if he were completely honest. He'd used his speed reading skills to peruse all the information while he was manning the stapler and three-hole-punch to put the reams of information into the report covers and folders. Instead, Tony spent his time watching the other members. Putting Pepper in charge was his baby and he wanted to see how the people would react. It wouldn't change his mind. The perfect person had the position. He wanted to sniff out any potential trouble. If Pepper knew what he was doing, she would have stopped him, but, although it appeared to be the case on more than one occasion, she could not actually read his mind. As he looked around the table, everyone seemed to be completely engrossed in everything Pepper was saying…everyone except one man, the man sitting diagonally across from Tony. By word of mouth, he knew that this was the son of one of the long-serving board members who could not attend due to illness. He kept his cool when the man hadn't looked at _any_ of the handouts. He tried to overlook the fact the guy was doodling on the cover of the report he spent so long assembling. When he was rude enough to pull out his cell phone and start texting, Tony couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Excuse me," he broke in when Pepper had paused to change topics. "I know it's your first time here, but, as a rule, we don't use our phones during board meetings." With a condescending huff, the man acted as if Tony hadn't spoken and continued. "Hey...new guy," he said, this time a little more forcefully. "Put up your phone." He looked to Pepper. "I'm sorry. Please continue." Pepper moved on in her presentation. Tony was determined to pay attention until he saw the man pick up his phone and begin again. As unobtrusively as possible, he slipped his Stark Phone from his pants pocket and, with a few swipes, initialized a signal scrambler. When he saw the rude member-by-proxy frown when his attempts to use his phone was futile, Tony sat back in his seat with a satisfied smirk. He would keep his eye on this guy. It wouldn't be hard to recognize the signs. He would simply look for how he would have acted a couple of years ago. He knew more ways to disrupt a meeting and discombobulate a speaker than this amateur could even fathom, not to brag, but...alright, he was Tony Stark, so he would _always_ brag. Let him try. Tony was on alert. He watched every twitch and movement, hoping the man would try something. He was ready. He would catch the guy before he could disturb Pepper or his name wasn't..."

"_Tony!"_

"Huh?"

"I was reassuring them that you would still be involved in the company, but mostly in the Research and Development area."

"Oh. Yes." Tony smoothed his tie. "I plan to remain very involved. Only now, I will be concentrating on the fun stuff and leaving the boring stuff to Pepper." The comment brought a collective chuckle from everyone except the one man he had been watching who let out a derisive snort. Tony did his best to ignore it. "That is the luxury of having a CEO like Miss Potts. I can be as creative as I like and not have to worry about the day-to-day operations. I know she has things well in hand."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." The smile she gave him was genuine. Pepper knew Tony would never patronize her. "If you will look on page 5…"

Tony propped his chin in his hand and focused on Pepper. He loved her voice. It was one of those magical things that could both calm him and turn him on, sometimes at the same time. He didn't always pay attention to everything she was saying and sometimes that got him into trouble, especially those times when he was more turned on than calmed down. This time, though, he was pretty safe. He already knew what all she would cover. At one point, Pepper turned to explain the graphics on a chart. Tony had been waiting on this part. It gave him an unobstructed view of two more of his favorite assets. She'd opted for no hose, all the better for Tony and his desire to see her legs. He _did_ love her legs. If it were up to him, she would never be allowed to wear pants in his presence...ever. It seemed a shame to cover up such perfection. His eyes followed those legs up to her equally stunning backside. He loved her butt. Tony had admired it from afar for years, but now, he had the added joy of knowing it was his, to ogle at his pleasure...ogle and _more_ in private. Tony allowed himself a smile. For some reason he couldn't name, he chose this moment to look in the direction of the man he'd selected to keep an eye on and his smile quickly faded. The interloper was leering at Pepper. Tony wished with all in him that he could kick the pervert under the table as hard possible. No one had the right to look at _his_ Pepper like that. He was too far away for Tony to kick, but he had to do something. He sat up straight in his chair, his mind working furiously. Then, Tony saw a lecherous grin spread across the other man's face. _This_ was the last straw.

"Oh, c'mon! You gotta be kidding me!"

The entire room went silent. Pepper stopped talking. She turned to face Tony, giving him what he referred to as her "this better be good" look. Realizing he had said all of that out loud, he scrambled to recover. The first thing he saw when he looked down was a pen. "My pen ran out of ink," he said, hoping it sounded more convincing to them than it did to him. "It's my favorite pen."

"Here," an elderly gentleman sitting beside him said. "I brought an extra one."

Tony took the proffered pen. "Thank you," he said. Pepper raised a questioning eyebrow that only he would have been able to detect. He flashed her his "no worries" grin. She turned back to her graph. Tony turned over one stapled set of pages and began scribbling furiously, filling the sheet with all of the names and disparaging phrases he had for the gawker across the way.

The rest of the presentation passed without incident. It wasn't until Pepper opened the floor to questions that things began to go downhill. "When are we going to address the important things?" All eyes turned to the man Tony reprimanded earlier.

"What things would that be?" Pepper asked.

"I was talking to Stark."

Tony quickly scanned the first page of the report cover to make sure he called the right man's name before he answered. "Miss Potts is the CEO, Mr. Jarrett. She can tell whatever you need to know."

"Then maybe _she_ can tell me how we are _ever_ supposed to trust her to run this company after the huge disaster that was the Stark Expo?"

"Okay, first of all, that was not her fault. For her part, and the company's part, Pepper had it running like a well-oiled machine. Including clean-up, we came in at the projected budget. If you looked at the report instead of drawing all over it, you would see that."

"I'm sure," Jarrett snorted.

"I'm sorry," Tony said, beginning to get agitated. "I missed that."

"If you insist."

"Oh, I do. I _totally_ insist."

"It's no secret I didn't want to come today, but, now, I'm glad I did," Jarrett began. "This entire meeting has been a farce. All of the handouts and charts in the world can't cover up what's _really_ going on."

"And exactly what would that be?"

"You screwed up, Stark. You screwed up and you're using your girlfriend here to cover all of it up."

"Excuse me," Pepper broke in, "but I can assure you there is no cover up of any kind."

"Pep, it's okay," Tony said standing. "I got this one." He placed his hands on the table, leaning as far across as he could. "I suppose you have proof of these allegations you're making."

"I don't need proof."

"Oh, believe me, Mr. Jarrett, if you're going to come in here and accuse _me_ of a cover up, you better have a boat _load_ of proof."

"It's as plain as the nose on your face, what's going on. The Expo was a colossal failure. To throw us off the scent, you trot _her_ out, hoping it would distract us." Jarrett paused and eyed Pepper. "Of course, she can distract me anytime." He winked at her in a futile attempt at flirting.

Tony was almost positive he would explode. "Okay, Mr. Jarrett. I think you need to leave."

"Why, Stark? Can't handle the truth?"

"You wouldn't know the truth if it punched you in the mouth and if you disrespect Miss Potts again, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Is that a threat?"

"Nope." Tony was boring holes through the man with his gaze. "If you leave now, I will still allow your family to keep their seat on the board."

"You can't take away our seat just because you don't like what I say."

"I put the 'Stark' in Stark Industries. I can do whatever I want when it comes to the administration of this company."

Jarrett sneered. "I thought that honor belonged to your current trophy occupying the CEO's chair."

Tony spoke to one of the junior associates attending the meeting with him and Pepper. "Step outside and get Mr. Hogan." The nervous associate nearly broke his neck getting out of the room.

"Fine. I will leave." Jarrett stood and addressed Pepper. "Let me know if you ever decide to stop playing office with Stark here, Sweetheart. I would be glad to have you work under me." Once again, he grinned suggestively.

Tony struck before the other man could react. Reaching across, he grabbed Jarrett by the tie and slammed him face-first into the table. He landed with a sickening thud. Tony still held tightly to the necktie, but raised the man's head a few inches.

"You broke my nose!" Jarrett said in disbelief.

"You're lucky I didn't break your neck."

Happy walked into the boardroom. "Something wrong, Boss?" He saw the bloody man Tony held and was ready for whatever may follow.

"Get him out of here," Tony said, releasing the tie clutched in his fist. "He's not to be allowed back in the building...ever. Dan Jarrett. His name goes on the list."

Happy took the offender gruffly by the arm. "Let's go, pal."

"I...I'm calling my lawyer," Jarrett threatened through the hand covering his nose and mouth.

"Good. You will need one for the sexual harassment suit."

"Sexual harassment?"

"Multiple unwanted comments in front of 15 people. I'm no legal expert, but, I think our case is pretty good. Clarkson, you're a lawyer," he said to another board member. "What kind of chance do you think he has?"

"Not very good," Mr. Clarkson answered.

Tony looked at his victim and saw the blood beginning to seep between his fingers. "Get him out of here before he bleeds all over my carpet." He watched Happy half-drag Jarrett out the door, a satisfied smile on his face. When the door closed, he surveyed the rest of the room. "Okay. Does anyone else have a question?" He heard someone clear their throat to his right.

"I do," a middle-aged man at the far-end of the table spoke up.

"Yes, Mr. Miller?" Pepper said, licking her lips and steeling herself for what was to come.

"On page 42, it mentions that cost cutting has increased production across the board. Would you care to expound on that?"

Pepper relaxed the death-grip she'd been holding on the edge of the table, relief visible on her face. "Of course," she said. "I will be happy to. If everyone will turn to the page in question..."

Tony returned to his seat. He opened his folder to follow along. With the distraction out of the way, he could enjoy the rest of the meeting. He paused mid page-turn. Tony Stark just admitted to himself that he could actually _enjoy_ a board meeting. Inwardly, he laughed. Only Pepper. Tony looked up from the page and saw her glance at him during her explanation. He gave the most subtle of winks. When it was all over, he was sure they would have a discussion about what transpired. She would tell him again that she was a big girl and didn't need him to fight her battles for her. He would reiterate that he was a hypocrite if he fought to protect the rest of the world but _didn't_ for the one person he wanted to protect more than anything. It may take some people a while to get used to the fact that she was the head of a multi-billion-dollar corporation. While he was confident Pepper could handle herself in the corporate world, Tony would always be there for those who may need an extra reminder, to show them exactly who's the boss.

**Author's note: After a discussion with my BFF and my Pepperony buddy, nancyozz, I decided to give it a go and write what we affectionately called "Caveman Tony." It also turned out to be a great way to vent frustrations I was experiencing with co-workers and some family members. I am a sucker for protective Tony. Sometimes, as good as he tries to be, his baser caveman instincts come out where Pepper is concerned. I hope you like it. Thanks, always, to my BFF and nancyozz for their support. Lots of times, I would quit if it weren't for you. Thanks, starkind, for all your input. :) I'm forever amazed that people actually _like_ what I write. You make me feel special. PLEASE let me know what you think. Reviews are wanted and welcomed. Happy reading and PEPPERONY FOREVER!**


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